For What It's Worth
|[[country rock]] |psychedelic rock }} | Length = | Label = Atco | Writer = Stephen Stills | Producer = | Last single = "Burned" (1966) | This single = "For What It's Worth" (1967) | Next single = "Bluebird" (1967) }} "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)" (often referred to as simply "For What It's Worth") is a song written by Stephen Stills. It was performed by Buffalo Springfield, recorded on December 5, 1966, and released as a single on Atco Records in January 1967. The single peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.Google Books archive Billboard March 25, 1967 retrieved 25 March 2017 This song is currently ranked number 63 on Rolling Stone s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time as well as the eighth best song of 1967 by Acclaimed Music. It was later added to the March 1967 second pressing of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The title does not appear in the lyrics as it was added after the song was written. Background Although "For What It's Worth" is often used as an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write the track because of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in November 1966, a series of early counterculture-era clashes that took place between police and young people on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California, beginning in the mid-1966, the same year Buffalo Springfield had become the house band at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip. It was within this period that local residents and businesses had become increasingly annoyed by late-night traffic congestion caused by crowds of young people going to clubs and music venues along the Strip. In response, they lobbied the city to pass local ordinances that stopped loitering and enforced a strict curfew on the Strip after 10pm. Young music fans, however, felt that the new laws were an infringement of their civil rights. On Saturday, November 12, 1966, fliers were distributed on Sunset Strip inviting people to join demonstrations later that day. Several of Los Angeles' rock radio stations also announced that a rally would be held outside the Pandora's Box club on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights. That evening as many as 1,000 young demonstrators, including future celebrities like Jack Nicholson and Peter Fonda (who was handcuffed by police), gathered to protest against the enforcement of the curfew laws. Although the rallies began peacefully, trouble eventually broke out among the protesters and police. The unrest continued the next night and periodically throughout the rest of November and December forcing some clubs to shut down within weeks. Against the background of these civil disturbances, Stills recorded the song on December 5, 1966. Production Stills said in an interview that the name of the song came about when he presented it to the record company executive Ahmet Ertegun who signed Buffalo Springfield to the Atlantic Records-owned ATCO label. He said: "I have this song here, for what it's worth, if you want it." Another producer, Charlie Greene, claims that Stills first said the above sentence to him, but credits Ahmet Ertegun with subtitling the single "Stop, Hey What's That Sound" so that the song would be more easily recognized. The song was recorded on December 5, 1966 at Columbia Studios, Hollywood. Tom Dowd claims he mixed the song at Atlantic's studio in New York, though this is disputed by others. He did take part in the production of Cher's version of the song in 1969. Legacy The song quickly became a well-known protest song. In 2006, when interviewed on Tom Kent's radio show Into the '70s, Stephen Stills pointed out that many people think "For What It's Worth" is about the Kent State shootings (1970), even though the song predates that event by over three years. Neil Young, Stills' bandmate in both Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, would later write "Ohio", in response to the events at Kent State. "For What It's Worth" was played at Buffalo Springfield's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Young did not attend. Covers "For What It's Worth" has been covered, sampled, and referenced in numerous musical performances. Versions include those by The Staple Singers (US#66 in 1967), Cher, Oui 3, Queensrÿche (on their Take Cover album) and Public Enemy. Cher's 1969 cover did not enter the Billboard Hot 100; AllMusic retrospectively called her version "mature and forceful". David Cassidy recorded an extended live version for his 1974 album Cassidy Live! (Bell Records, UK #9; recorded live in Great Britain in May 1974). The track features extensive and complex lead guitar solos played by Cassidy himself. The album received rave reviews. Writing for Allmusic, critic Dave Thompson wrote, "Recorded live on his 1974 world tour, at the height (and, though nobody knew it, in the final days) of Cassidy-mania, Cassidy Live is a peculiar document, on the one hand standing as an indication of just how fierce the hysteria around the lad was, but, on the other, living proof of what a sensational showman he was; as evidenced by tracks like 'For What It's Worth'." Thompson summed up his review by saying, "Rock history has sidelined Cassidy with a finality that seems almost personal, shovelling him up a teen idol side street from which the only escape was retirement and resignation. Cassidy Live, however, was recorded while he still thought he had a chance of advancing -- and few period live albums come even close to capturing its excitement." Public Enemy sampled "For What It's Worth", for their 1998 song "He Got Game", which also featured Stephen Stills. Oui 3 adapted the song for their 1993 debut single of the same name, which reached number 26 in the UK chart. In 2017, Haley Reinhart released a cover of the song as the third single from her third studio album, What's That Sound? References }} External links * Reasontorock analysis of song * Category:1966 songs Category:1967 singles Category:1969 singles Category:Atco Records singles Category:Buffalo Springfield songs Category:Cher songs Category:Counterculture of the 1960s Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Category:Protest songs Category:Songs about California Category:Songs written by Stephen Stills Category:Song recordings produced by Arif Mardin Category:Song recordings produced by Tom Dowd Category:Song recordings produced by Jerry Wexler